


How I Soar

by dragonlover



Category: Firefly
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Hoban "Wash" Washburne Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2008-04-01
Updated: 2008-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29811942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonlover/pseuds/dragonlover
Summary: An alternate timeline, created by editing Serenity a tiny bit so Wash lives.
Relationships: Hoban Washburne/Zoë Washburne





	How I Soar

“We’re approaching the eye of the cloud,” Wash reported, more than a little jittery. He didn’t have to glance at his rear-display to know the Reaver fleet was still close behind them. They were about to see if Mal’s _fong luh_ plan to break through whatever Alliance forces had gathered around Mr. Universe’s moon would indeed work. He took several deep breaths, preparing to go into the form of meditation he had developed for rough flying.

_Serenity’s_ parts hummed as she exited the ion cloud, the great Alliance armada revealed between them and the moon. Wash silently focused his chi, willing himself to be in harmony with his ship. Dozens of Reaver ships followed them out, and even through the tension he was mildly amused at the (give or take) ten second pause before the Alliance ships began firing. By that time, they were in too close for them to get a good lock.

He listed to port and did a vertical three-sixty. There was no up or down in space, but relative to the fleet, they were upside down. Self-assurance flowing through him, Wash weaved the ship between the Alliance ships, most too preoccupied shooting at Reavers to pay them any mind.

Behind him, he heard Jayne remark, “Hey, we’re upside down!” Silly.

“This is going to be very tight,” Zoë said grimly.

He pushed his concern for his wife away, focusing instead on his breathing and being one with _Serenity_. “I am a leaf on the wind,” he murmured, “Watch how I soar.” One with _Serenity_ , he continued his fast-paced weaving and dodging.

They had almost made it through, when a barreling piece of debris flew right in their path. Yanking the controls, he managed to dodge the menacing wreckage, only to put _Serenity_ right back in the fray. _Ai ya, hwai luh!_

In the chaos around them, the Alliance vessels, mighty though they were, were being torn apart by the vicious, unrelenting brutality of the inhuman Reavers. Beside him, looking out at the battle, Mal muttered, “Chickens come home to roost.”

Wash partially agreed with his captain’s sentiment; these people created the Reavers themselves by testing their experimental chemicals on the unsuspecting people of Miranda. However, this massacre was deserved by no one. Any further thoughts he had on the subject were abruptly pushed aside as a large chunk of an Alliance ship swung out in front of them. He jerked out of the way, only to smash into a smaller piece.

“The hell?” Mal cried as _Serenity_ jolted violently.

Wash’s breathing sped up greatly, the impact knocking him out of his concentration. “It’s okay,” he said rapidly, trying to regain his focus. “I’m a leaf on the wind!”

“What does that _mean_?” Mal demanded, anger masking his fear.

Wash paid him little mind. The flying was what was important, and he worked to shut out all distractions. Obstacles began to thin, and he could make out the moon clearly behind the large Alliance ships. “We’re almost through,” he said with relief.

He nearly brought _Serenity_ out of the cluster, when an Alliance ship moved to block his exit. Shifting around the warship, he set a trajectory through the space between several ships. As he flew toward it, one of the ships – a Reaver’s – fired several shots on the nearby Alliance cruiser, filling his opening with flame.

“No, no, no,” Mal said, shaking his head at what Wash obviously intended to do.

“Yes, yes,” he insisted, cleanly evading the missiles as they passed through. _Serenity_ shook as an explosion went off beside them. Keeping his cool – or at least holding back utter panic, he continued to skirt around the dueling ships, ever getting closer to the moon. Finally, there were no more obstacles ahead, just open skies. He dove _Serenity_ into the depths of the moon’s atmosphere. _Yes!_

“We’re not alone,” Zoë said suddenly, looking up from the rear-display.

He gritted his teeth, and twisted _Serenity_ around to evade the enemy ship. However, she suddenly jolted with impact. The controls sparked, and the rest of the bridge crew ducked. He was the pilot, though, and kept his hands on the controls and his eyes looking straight forward.

“EMP,” Mal called out, recognizing the blast for what it was. He grabbed the radio transceiver and spoke into the intercom, “Everybody strap yourselves into something!” He lowered the handset. “Jayne?”

“I got it,” the mercenary responded quickly, heading into the depths of the ship.

Zoë and Mal hurriedly strapped themselves into the two chairs remaining on the bridge. The machinery let out another shower of sparks, and Wash heard the sound of rapidly draining power. Spinning, _Serenity_ began to take a dive straight down, and he fought to right her to no avail. “We’re fried,” he realized. “I got no control!”

“Where’s the back-up?” Mal asked urgently, trying to restart the system. “Where’s the back-up?!”

As if he had heard the question, Jayne’s voice soon came over the intercom, _“Back-up, check.”_

_Jing tsai._ Fighting against the centrifugal force generated by _Serenity’s_ violent spinning, he keyed in commands to regain control of her. She straightened out abruptly, causing him to slam back against his chair from the momentum.

He let out a hiss of tension as he spotted Mr. Universe’s stolen communications complex laid out in front of them. _We can’t land properly,_ he realized grimly. He started to work on the necessary calculations for what he planned to do.

“Back-up reads at twenty percent,” Zoë reported. She gave him her be-honest-with-me-sweetie look. “Can you get us down?”

“I’m going to have to glide her in,” he explained. Zoë and Mal both looked at him sharply.

“Will that work?” she asked.

He didn’t answer; he didn’t know. _Long as that landing strip is made of nice and fluffy pillows._ He put the landing gear down and headed straight for the landing strip of the complex. _I am a leaf on the wind,_ he thought in desperation, trying to regain the slightest bit of confidence.

With a jarring _wham_ , the bridge erupted in sparks, throwing them against their seat restraints. Wash cried out in pain as the strap bit into his ribcage, dimly aware of other screams in the ship. The screeching, tearing sound indicated they were still moving, and he looked up to watch as _Serenity_ slid inside the hanger.

They jerked as she smashed through the various obstacles in her way. More screeching metal, and Wash saw the port thruster go flying into the air. _That’ll make taking off entertaining._ Still, that was the least of their troubles. Another impact caused _Serenity_ to do a complete one-eighty, crashing the rear of the ship into the back wall of the hanger.

Finally, Serenity came to a stop, having apparently crashed into enough things to decelerate fully. The seat restraint had kept him from flying about the bridge, but his entire body was sore from having being shoved against it. So after catching a breath, he unbuckled and stood up, turning to the others with a grin.

“I’m a leaf on the wind,” he began to joke, when a wooden harpoon the size of a small tree smashed through the window and impaled his pilot’s chair. _Ai ya!_ He looked out to see two Reaver ships landing directly in front of them. “ _Ta ma de_ ,” he swore. _If I hadn’t have stood up when I did…_

“C’mon!” Mal shouted, standing up. “We got to go now!”

_That’s right,_ he realized. With _Serenity_ currently out of commission, running on foot was the only option. He began to follow his crewmates, when Zoë knocked him to the floor as another great spike flew through where his head used to be.

He followed his wife on hands and knees down the corridor and then ran to the cargo hold, where the rest of the crew waited, armed and ready to storm the complex. River, Simon and Kaylee looked uncomfortable with their guns, but Inara held her bow and wore her quiver of arrows with as much grace as she had with everything else.

“Jayne, take point,” Mal ordered.

Jayne nodded, and moved to the airlock, but not before tossing Wash a pistol. As he did a quick check to make sure it was loaded, he noticed River looking directly at him with an eerie intensity.

“It has changed,” he heard the girl mutter. River looked at him as though she was an entomologist, and he some rare beetle. Feeling unnerved, he looked away from the insane girl’s stare.

From the airlock, Jayne cried, “Go!”

They all filed out of Serenity. Mal led them through a door and toward the double-sized doorway that led up to Mr. Universe’s “black room,” the entrance to his facility. When they got to the doorway, Mal hit a button, and the blast doors opened from the sides, top, and bottom, widening the space considerably.

“C’mon, Jayne. Rear guard,” Mal said.

Jayne moved back to cover them. When they had all passed through the doorway, Mal moved to close the doors.

“Wait,” Kaylee interrupted, “Give me a sec, and I can rig them so they won’t reopen after they close.”

“Good. Work fast,” Mal said. “Jayne?” He and Jayne approached the door to the airstrip, and peered out into the hanger. Soon, fearsome cries filled the air, causing Wash to shiver. Mal looked at Jayne, “Tell me you brought ‘em this time.”

Jayne smiled, and pulling out two grenades, tossed one to Mal. Together, they threw them out, and then slammed the door shut. The room shook from the two explosions. This time, screams of pain were mixed in amongst the war cries.

“Let’s prop one of ‘em crates against the door,” Jayne suggested, gesturing at the many steel boxes lining the walls. Compelled by the fast increasing war cries, he and Mal shoved one over to it.

“Kaylee?” Mal called.

“Almost got it, captain,” she muttered, fiddling with the controls.

River began to shake. Grabbing her head, she screamed, “Reavers! They’re all made up of rage! I can’t shut them up!” As Simon bent down to comfort her, several loud thuds came from the door, signaling the approaching Reavers.

Jayne cocked the large gun he’d named Jia, moving in front of the door. “She picked a sweet bung of a time to go helpless on us.”

“ _Hurry_ ,” Mal pressed, as the banging continued.

“I got it!” Kaylee stepped back from the controls.

“Alright,” Zoë called, “Let’s move!”

“Now there’s a good plan,” Jayne agreed.

They all followed Mal into the corridor. Wash glanced back to watch the blast doors close, separating them from the Reavers. However, the doors stopped before they shut all the way. “Hey, hold on a second,” he said, pointing back at the doors.

“Gorrammit,” Jayne swore. “They’re gonna get in!”

“I can’t close them unless I go outside,” Kaylee said.

The banging sound was soon accompanied by screeching, which meant the Reavers were starting to pry the door open.

“That’s not an option,” Mal asserted. “Everyone in the lift!”

As they squeezed themselves into the cargo lift, Wash caught a glimpse of a Reaver’s head popping through the airstrip doorway. Mal quickly raised his pistol and shot it before he activated the lift.

“They’re still going to come,” Inara pointed out as they rose.

“We’ll have to move fast,” Mal agreed.

“And then what?” Wash asked. “ _Serenity_ ’s not moving any time soon.”

“We’ll figure that out when we need to,” Mal answered. “For now, we do the job.”

The lift doors opened, and they stepped out into Mr. Universe’s sanctum. The last time they were invited, the room was brightly lit by dozens of screens, all showing the images contained on various signals that had been suppressed by the Alliance for whatever reason. It was also noisy, the speakers all playing the sounds contained on each signal. This time, however, the place was dark and quiet.

Each of the screens, computers, the speakers, and receivers, everything that made this place so useful to them and so dangerous to the Alliance, had been destroyed. Mr. Universe himself lay draped over Lenore, his robotic wife, a trail of blood leading from his chair to hers.

“No,” Mal moaned at the sight.

“Ah, gorrammit,” Jayne said. “What’re we gonna do now?”

“Give me a moment to think,” Mal muttered.

Simon knelt down beside Mr. Universe and checked his pulse.

“He’s dead,” he shook his head.

Suddenly, Lenore’s head animated and turned to look at Simon. _“Mal?”_ she asked in a voice that sounded not entirely unlike Mr. Universe’s own. _“Guy killed me, Mal. He killed me with a sword. How weird is that? I got… a short span here… They destroyed my equipment, but I have a back-up unit. Bottom of the complex, right over the generator. Hard to get to… I know they missed it. They can’t stop the signal, Mal. They can never stop the signal… Whoa, Mal, this is a level of pain I never even thought I…”_

Lenore powered down, her eyes going dark.

“Well, you heard him,” Mal said after a beat, sounding uplifted. “Let’s get a move on.”

Hearing a mechanical sound, he turned to see the lift doors beginning to close.

_The Reavers,_ he realized with a chill. _They’re coming._

“Jayne, grenade,” Mal ordered.

“Very last one,” Jayne noted, tossing it into the lift before the doors could close fully.

They ran over to the sides of the room to avoid shrapnel. Fortunately, the lift had descended partially when the blast came, and little debris was thrown outward. The sound of a crash immediately after told them the lift was no longer functional.

“All right, then,” Mal said after a pause. “Let’s do this.”

“Hold up,” Zoë said. “If the robot played the message to Simon, then who’s to say it won’t play for the Reavers if they come through here?”

“That’s a good point,” Mal admitted. “Jayne?”

Maybe it was the shock from seeing both Shepherd Book and Mr. Universe dead at the hands of the assassin Book had called an ‘operative,’ or the thought that they may very well have to forever abandon _Serenity_. Whatever the reason, Wash was certain that when Jayne opened fire on Lenore, his captain began to tear up some. _Machine or no, that man cared for her as if she were a real woman._

As they began to move out, he turned away from the dead forms and settled his gaze on Zoë. Even though it was a tragedy to lose the men they did, both he and his wife were still alive. _Call me selfish, but that’s enough for me right now._

宁静

The _IAV Tianlong_ had succumbed to the might of the barbaric Reavers, which had been pulled along in the wake of Malcolm Reynolds’ ship. Now its last survivor hurdled toward the surface of the moon Kratos, contained tightly inside an escape pod. Its occupant grimaced at the monstrous slaughter taking place overhead. Surely no mere girl was worth such a damnable act as this.

At the age of six, he had been taken from his civilian home on Sihnon to be exposed to vigorous training in the arts and sciences of battle and psychology, and the discipline to wield such knowledge effectively. He had mastered his emotions, learned how to reach a state of peace crucial to commanding the powerful karate variant constructed by the Alliance. He had become a master of his craft, one fully dedicated to use his gift to serve as an Operative of Parliament. Now, however, the carefully forged emotional mask faltered as a strand of anger steadily grew within him.

_Malcolm Reynolds…_ He should have killed him when he had the chance. Even then, the man’s psychosis had been apparent to him. For a ship’s captain to charge blindly into what he knew was a trap was quite plainly the act of a disturbed mind. That combined with his criminal record, he should have known better than to have offered mercy to the man. He would not make that mistake again.

He oriented the pod so his feet were parallel to the ground, allowing the pod’s thrusters to slow his descent. The communications facility directly beneath him, he tapped a button on the onboard computer to scan for the exact location of _Serenity_. The sensors picked up the engine radiation of what appeared to be three vessels, all located in the facility hanger.

_So, the Reavers have followed them too,_ he thought as he carefully set the pod down near the main entrance. _I must act swift to ensure I am not overwhelmed by cannibals._ Having landed the pod, he released the seals and opened the hatch. He pulled himself from the pod and entered the complex. He had already memorized the blueprints, and, climbing into the ventilation, he quickly made his way toward the room in which the criminal Mr. Universe had outfitted with his illegal broadcasting equipment.

He paused, hearing several footfalls nearby. They were far too erratic to be Alliance soldiers, and by the sounds he estimated at least twenty men. _The Reavers have entered the facility…_ With luck, they would actually do his job for him. He drew his electrolaser and cautiously crawled onward.


End file.
